Red Cross or Iron Cross? Analyzing World War One Propaganda Posters

• In Event: Novel Forms of Visual Communication

Abstract

A rhetorical analysis was performed on ten World War I propaganda posters in order to determine the use of various metaphoric devices employed to further the government’s agenda. By providing the support necessary to ensure successful suasion, the use of archetypal, novel, and systemic metaphors allowed patriotic propaganda to strike responsive chords deep within the populace, not only furthering the aims of the propagandist, but also shoring up domestic defenses as well.

Author

• Mary Alice Adams, Louisiana Tech University